Lost Past
by inkoftwilight
Summary: The heroes of regeration must unite with them, the most wanted group in the world, despite the tension. But if they don't, all of the world will be destroyed. And working together will save all of them, and untangle the deep, dark mysteries of their past.
1. Runaways

**This is a re-write of the first chapter. Why? See, when I first got on FF I wrote the outline, lost it, and tried to write the story anyway. Now that I found the outline, I realized that I messed something up. Kristina, Ricky, and Faith aren't on the run. Well, they are but they have this base thing hidden away with four other thieves. So in order to add them in I have to mix up the story a bit. Plus, I really like this beginning to the story. So, here it is. **

**Disclaimer: I only own Kristina and her band of thieves.**

Kristina's black boots pounded on the hard packed dirt roads that ran through the poorest, most run down area of the otherwise flourishing city of Meltokio. She ignored the Papal Knights screams of anger and frustration from not being able to catch a, 'Low life, bratty, blood lusting, stealing little child.' Or, at least that's what they were shouting at her. But she found being called a child the most offensive, seeing as she was 17. Getting bored of running, she turned to the knights.

"You know, you might be able to catch me if you didn't have all that useless junk on you," Kristina taunted them.

"You'll eat those words runt," one of the knights shouted at her.

Kristina threw her head back and laughed. The Papal Knights screamed in rage. No one in the right mind ever taunted them. But Kristina (and her fellow band of thieves) aren't exactly right in the head. After that outburst, Kristina turned and took a shortcut through a narrow alleyway. It led right to Ms. Aphear's small home. Kristina stopped there to catch her breath.

"A little early to be running into trouble, isn't it Kristina?"

Ms. Aphear was hanging the few clothes that she and her son had on the line to dry. Her house, like all the others, was a dump. Her face was hollow from the lack of food, but very kind. Kristina fished through her bag and pulled out two shiny red apples.

"Here." She tossed them to the kind lady. "Enjoy."

Ms. Aphear looked at her with praise. "Oh, Martel bless you, Kristina."

She simply waved it off and started to walk away, until a pair of meaty arms grabbed her in a chokehold. She gasped in surprise and looked up to the man holding her. The young girl groaned. "You again?" The man grinned.

The woman glared. "You let go of that girl this instant, Raphael!"

Raphael tightened his grip. "No way. Turning her in will finally give me my payback." Kristina rolled her eyes. A few years ago she and her group teamed up with him to take down a major Tethe'alla corporation. But instead she had left him alone with the security to take all the blame. That scene is were the group got their name in the Tethe'alla side of the new world. They had taken what they needed, and that's all. But he kept a grudge ever since. He didn't move a step though, when a dark blur blew by on a clothes line and kicked him down to the ground, releasing Kristina. A petite, dirty blond young girl skipped over and stood on top of him. The girl looked down at him and giggled, her grass green eyes sparkling.

"Good job Ricky," she praised the boy. He grinned and swept his messy black hair out of his eyes.

He turned to Kristina. "You okay?"

She nodded her head. "C'mon, let's get out of here quick!" She ran off when the voices of the Papal Knights sounded in her ultra sensitive ears. Her two best friends followed close behind. They ran through the alleyways to take a short cut through the sewer. Kristina lifted the heavy cover with ease and gestured Ricky down. When the blond started to climb down the slick ladder she groaned.

"I hate the sewer." Her voice echoed through the passageways.

"You can make it, Faith," Kristina coaxed. Then, when Faith was all the way down, she took a scan of the area and hopped down into the sewer, and even with the chains on her boots, she landed without a sound.

_I wish you didn't have to run away so much, Kristina. I wish you could've had a better childhood. But don't worry. It'll get better soon. I promise._

Outside the city walls, the three thieves stared at wanted posters posted on a group of trees not to far away. It was of the whole group, Kristina, Ricky, Faith, Sammy, the 'twins' Seth and Rath, and Kyle. They were interested in the descriptions of the use in the group. Kristina, they're ruthless leader, Ricky, the spell bound half-elf, Faith, the healer, Rath, the blood thirsty animal, Sammy, the most innocent girl you've ever seen, but can break a neck with her bare hands, Seth, the big, scary swordsman, and Kyle, the ax welder that is the only one ever known to beat Kristina. Anger and frustration drove through all three of them at the words that made them sound heartless and brutal. And Sarah has only snapped a neck _twice_ (the second time was an accident). The auburn haired leader snuck a glance at Ricky as he stared at his description, and she noticed he was grinding his teeth again. He hates being a half-elf, that's why he ran away from the Asgard ranch with Faith, and why he doesn't use his sword in battle, only casts spells. She knew he was going to explode any second now, so she changed the subject.

"Am I really that ugly?" They never have gotten a good, clear image of Kristina's face. The others didn't have good pictures either, most of them taken at bad times (for example Rath had blood splattered across his face). But they just drew Kristina's face. Very badly.

Ricky looked at the drawing and grinned. "At least now they won't find you as easy." She shook her head and smiled.

"Let's just hurry up and get out of here." She took off running once again and the other two followed faithfully.

Later that night, Ricky and Faith were sleeping soundly, with Kristina keeping watch like she always does. They had chosen a deserted spot in an endless field. The light summer drizzle and cooling wind made it hard to keep the fire going. She messed with the pure gold four circle pendent that hung from her neck, the only thing she had from her life before the Asgard ranch. The bright flames reflected in her maroon eyes. She was constantly checking around them for anyone. She knew that she and Ricky would blend in fine, what with her black pants and sleeveless top that covered the front of her neck, the only thing that stood out was her white sweater. Ricky had an assembly of brown ankle boots, a brown long sleeve shirt with a white tank top over it, and brown jeans.

_Yes,_ Kristina thought, _we'll blend in fine_.

But she was worried about Faith. She'd always been the weakest one, and with her white boots, jeans, shirt with sleeves that go to her elbow, a black long sleeve shirt under it, and black fingerless gloves, she sticks out in the dark like a sore thumb. She sighed and continued playing with her necklace. A few minutes later, the pounding sound of Papal Knights' boots rang through the night air. When they had stopped for the night they thought they were far enough from civilization not to be caught. Apparently they were wrong.

"Ricky, Faith, wake up! Quickly!" She said to them both nudging them in the ribs.

"What is it Kristina?" Ricky muttered sleepily.

"It's the Papal Knights. They're coming this way, we have to hurry!" Kristina whispered anxiously. Ricky and Faith cast each other surprised looks, and hastily put their few belongings in their bags while Kristina put out the fire and scattered around the fire wood, trying to hid the fact that anyone had ever been there. Then as the sound grew closer they soundlessly but hurriedly dashed away from the campsite. But it was too late.

"Halt!" Came a deep booming voice. The children slowly turned around, only to see at least twenty Papal Knights, maybe more.

"You three have committed crimes of murder and thievery. By order of the royal family you must be executed." The leader of the group yelled.

"If you think you can take us then your bitin' off more than you can chew." Kristina told the knights while drawing her swords.

"Yea, plus we only kill in self-defense." Faith informed while taking out her sword as well.

"What's with trying to murder children anyways?" Ricky asked.

"Yes, what would your mother say?" Kristina questioned in a humorous voice.

"Enough of this talk! You will die here and now!" One of the knights shouted running towards them.

As if on cue Ricky began casting while the other two charged into battle. Kristina kicked ones helmet off and stabbed him in the temple earning a stab in the shoulder from another. Faith knocked an axe out of one's hand and stabbed him in the throat. Ricky then cast Eruption, causing some of the knight's armor and weapons to melt. The girls took advantage of this and attacked the defenseless knights. Kristina frowned at the amount of blood on her swords but kept fighting. Faith got the breath knocked out of her by one knights and was slammed into Ricky when he was almost done casting. Kristina swore under her breath.

"Tempest!" She yelled and knocked off the helmets of some of the knights.

"Demon fang!" Faith yelled and startled the knight who had snuck up behind Kristina. To return the favor she stood in front of the blond as any Knights tried to take advantage of her when she was casting a healing spell.

"Healing Circle!" Faith yelled and blue beams of light healed the three of them.

"Spin Blade!" Kristina spun in circles to ward of the approaching knights from the two casters.

"Master of flames give me power to burn these evil souls…" The two girls glanced over their shoulders and saw Ricky casting. Knowing what he was casting they tried two round up the soldiers the best they could. When they finished Faith ran over behind him with her incredible speed and Kristina did a fancy back handspring, landing like a cat on one side of Ricky.

"Explode!" He yelled and raised up his arms. The knights never saw it coming and were burned to ashes. When the children saw the coast was clear they dashed off into the night without looking back at the gruesome and eerie scene.

**So there's the re-write of the first chapter. I really like this one better because I think it flows smoother. And I think it shows a lighter side of Kristina and has a better background info on Ricky and Faith. And I bet you noticed the TOS quote I used in here.**

**p.z. The italics is gonna show up almost every chapter, and it's the narrator. **


	2. Heroes of Regeneration

**Here's the re-do of this chapter! Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kristina, Faith, and Ricky. **

Chapter Two: Heroes of Regeneration

Kristina ran quickly through the flooded grass along with Ricky and Faith. Her calves felt twisted into knots and her heart felt like it would explode out of her chest. She knew the other two felt the same. After their narrow escape from the Papal Knights they made a mad dash to Altamira, which was one of the only places they could rest at since the Lezerano Company didn't want the Papal Knights interrupting their business. When they reached the glossy Altamira walk way they collapsed in a heap. Kristina crawled over to Faith and Ricky to examine their wounds that Faith didn't get a chance to heal and grimaced. Faith had a nasty cut along her forearm, a deep gash in her thigh and some minor cuts and bruises here and there. Ricky wasn't as bad only a few minor cuts, since he was mostly a spell user they tried to keep him out of the line of fire. Kristina knew that the young healer was too drained to do anything, so she used her weak healing the best she could.

Kristina was about to talk to the other two, but the clanking of metal stopped her. They all shared looks of confusion before diving behind the entrance arch. She watched as the Papal Knights passed by and when she was sure they were gone, gave the other two a signal to come out. Before anything else could show up Kristina motioned them to follow her, using the motions that they made up. As they ran through the puddles and into the hotel she could have sworn she saw a figure looking down at them from one of the windows.

**Scene Change**

Lloyd sat in one of the chairs in the Altamira hotel room and looked over the picture given to them by the Papal Knights with Colette, Genis, and Raine. They had come to visit Regal and were sharing a hotel room with each other. Just a few minutes ago the Papal Knights had come in asking for help to lock away the seven children in the picture. He told them that they had taken down a group with fifty of their best soldiers at once earlier that evening. Lloyd along with the other three couldn't believe that these small children could take down so many skilled knights. But then again, most people he'd faced didn't look like much either. The picture showed seven children, three girls, four boys. The petite blond looked the youngest, and was clinging to a menacing boy that was identical to another boy. One girl was so innocent looking that she couldn't really cause any damage. In the front of the group was a brunette girl (obviously the leader) with a tall boy (he looked like a half elf) standing by her side protectively. Another thing they noticed was that all of them had exspheres. Raine had gotten a hold of the others and agreed to meet in front of the beach.

"They're just kids, how could they take down do many soldiers," Raine wondered out loud.

"Don't forget Professor, on our journey of regeneration Genis was only twelve, and he could do a pretty good amount of damage," Lloyd reminded her. The young boy smiled proudly.

"Yeah, and I think the boy in front is a half-elf," Genis said.

"Well, since they are kids, there must be a good reason for doing all the things they did, right?" Colette added.

"Colette, sometimes not all kids are good," Lloyd said to her.

"But if they are bad, maybe we could tell them all the wrong they're doing and give them a second chance!"

Lloyd perked up. "Yeah, you're right!"

"We'll talk to the others about it tomorrow, but right now we should get some rest," Raine told them.

"Okay," Lloyd agreed. He looked out the window one last time, and through the fog and rain he could make out three figures splashing through the puddles and into the hotel.

**Scene Change**

Kristina sat in the warm sand of the beach and watched Ricky and Faith splash and swim in the water. After last nights attack, she agreed to their pleas to play at the beach before leaving. She, of course, had a terrible fear of the water, and wouldn't go past knee deep water. But for some reason, she couldn't shake this feeling that someone was watching them. Every few minutes she would glance around at the people at the beach, but there was only a family of four, a man and his dog, and a fairly large group of people near the stairs. She caught the eye of the younger brown headed boy, but he looked away since one of his companions called him. Kristina couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen him in a distant memory. She knew this was impossible, since she can't remember anything before being in the human ranch. But still, his face, she knew that he was familiar. Faith's cry interrupted her thoughts.

"Kristina! Look! Isn't this shell so pretty? I found it in the water." Kristina laughed at the child like look in Faith's eyes. But she quickly frowned, realizing it wasn't a shell.

"Faith wait! That's not a shell! It's a-" Faith's shriek interrupted her sentence. A hermit crab had come out of the shell and, being very angry at Faith for moving his home, pinched her hard on the side of her hand and refused to let go. Ricky was having trouble prying the claws off her hands, which were now red with irritation.

"Get it off me, get it off, get it off!" He finally got it off and flung it out to the ocean. Kristina was sure the crab was pissed off at them now.

"Oh, Faith come here, let me look at it," Kristina called. She led Faith out of the water, with Ricky close behind. She saw that the red wasn't just irritation, the crab had been able to break Faith's skin, causing blood to ooze all over her hand. Kristina healed the wound, but it still didn't close all the way. She was able to heal, but not completely, since she had never been taught the right way to do it.

"If it still hurts, dip it in sea water, that should help," Kristina told Faith. She only nodded in response. The smaller two walked back to the water but didn't go in as far. Hearing shouts behind her, Kristina turned around to see a woman from the large group pull one of the men down on the sand when he started to walk away and yell at him. She recognized the man as the chosen of Tethe'alla and the woman as the chief of Mizuho. While Kristina met the eye of the brown headed boy again, and a memory suddenly flashed through her mind.

_There were four people sitting in the canyon, a man, a woman, a little boy, and a baby girl. The boy was playing with a worm._

"_He he, it's squishy," the boy said after he poked it. The baby struggled against her mother's arms. She set the baby down, and it crawled over to her brother. He saw her and smiled a big, goofy smile._

"_Look, sissy, it's a worm," he told her and set the worm down on the palm of her hand. She giggled, and poked the worm. Then a growl came from the bushes and a large monster stepped out. The baby fell back words in fear and surprise, and her older brother stepped in front of her to try and keep her safe. Then their father ran forward. _Before the memory could get any farther, a voice broke through.

"Hey, Kristina! I found something!"

Kristina recognized the voice as Ricky's and turned around. Before she even realized it she had a face full of wet sand. Kristina wiped it off and looked at Ricky and Faith's mischievous faces, before throwing some back at him. It missed and hit Faith in the side of the head. Soon enough they were laughing, throwing wet sand back and forth. Then Kristina ducked a throw from Faith and it hit the brown headed boy square in the face.

"Oops, sorry," Kristina apologized, a giddy smile still on her face.

"It's okay," he said wiping it off. But then he grinned and through some back at her.

"Hey," Kristina yelled. Then the other group, except the two oldest, joined in the sand fight. But unknowingly, a young woman stood over the beach watching the scene before her. Her night black hair shaped her face, and covered one of her icy blue eyes. The walkie-talkie at her waist crackled, and a man's voice broke through.

"Jasmine, have they been acquainted yet," the voice asked.

"Yes father, they have," Jasmine answered back.

"Good, start the attack tonight," the voice told her.

"Already on it," she promised. A sly smile crept on her face.

"Enjoy it while you can little ones, because you can be assured it will all come crashing down."

**I didn't change a lot of stuff here, but I still fixed some stuff that I messed up. And I also noticed that the scene breaks that I put in here aren't showing up, so I'll have to find some other way to change scenes. Bye!**


	3. Attack on Altamira

**Alright, I fixed everything, and I'm back on track now. Here's the new chapter!**

Chapter 3: Attack on Altamira

"When will this stop?" Faith plopped into an armchair with a huff, angry at the thunderstorm for making them go inside the hotel. Lloyd couldn't agree more, they had been having so much fun on the beach. With all that had been going on with the centurions they hadn't gone there in a while. They were all getting along well, but the trio seemed very secretive, especially Kristina. He and the others knew they were the children from the photo, but he knew they had to have a good reason. Lloyd's group did when they were on the journey of world regeneration. So they probably did too.

Colette looked over at her. "Just be patient Faith. It's only been half an hour since we came in."

"Yeah you're getting worse than Kristina," Ricky said. Kristina's head snapped up to glare at him.

"Hey! I can hear you! I am _not_ impatient!" Her two friends laughed, making her more annoyed.

"Are you kidding me? You get annoyed if it takes us more than two minutes to get ready!" Faith laughed.

"Yeah, and you can't read above a fifth grade level," Ricky pointed out.

"That has nothing to do with anything!" Kristina yelled. Genis started to laugh along with them.

"That sounds exactly like Lloyd!" He said.

"Hey! That isn't like me!" Lloyd disagreed. "I can read in an eighth grade level."

"And you're a high school graduate," Sheena pointed out.

"What ever," Lloyd huffed.

"And I'm still trying to teach Kristina the multiplication table," Ricky added.

"Lloyd barely knows his," Genis said.

"You guys are so mean," Kristina and Lloyd whined in unison and crossed their arms.

"Lloyd, can I talk to you in the other room for a minute," Raine asked suddenly standing up.

"Huh? Um, sure, I guess," Lloyd followed her into the next room, confused. She closed the door behind him then began talking.

"Lloyd I'm worried that you're becoming too attached to the children. Remember these are wanted criminals."

"Professor, they have to have a good reason. They're nice kids."

"They've killed, stolen, and broken out of prison."

"So have we." Lloyd knew that the only prison they broke out of was Cruxis, but still. They were awesome kids. He knew it couldn't all be out of cold blood. "We can trust them, I know it."

Raine sighed. "I hope your right." She looked out the window into the other room. The trio looked innocent, but she had learned never to judge anyone by their appearance.

"I am. I know it."

When they walked back in the room, everyone was laughing and joking, each had started their own conversation. Lloyd could see Kristina yelling about something Faith did, Ricky talking to Genis and Colette about some school related thing he probably wouldn't understand, Emil, Marta, and Regal were in a conversation, and Zelos and Sheena were surprisingly able to keep up a conversation without violence. Lloyd smiled about how well everyone was and walked over to see what Kristina was freaking about. Maybe he could talk to them about the criminal record they had. He knew they were good. He could feel it in his gut.

_When you have a good heart, you can see into other's, see their truths, their lies, their doubt, their fears. You can see a good or bad heart. It's easy. Lloyd has a good heart, and he feels a need to protect other good-hearted ones. But what he can't learn is that his protection can't always protect them from the bad hearts._

**Scene Change**

"Are the troops ready Ralf?" Jasmine asked her second-in-command, which was a muscular man with a thick head of brown hair.

Ralf and Jasmine were in a great throne room banners hung off the walls, a great red carpet led to three thrones, a grand chandelier hung from the ceiling, and the walls and floors were a dark blue marble. Jasmine was sitting on the rightmost of three thrones. He stood and grinned.

"Yes, lady Jasmine," he answered.

"Good, send them to Altamira, and attack. But leave the two dual swordsmen for me."

He nodded and ran out of the room to report the news. She stood from her throne and unsheathed her sword, gazing at her smirking reflection.

"This will be fun." (A/N: I was very tempted to leave it at this. But that would be mean.)

**Scene Change**

While Kristina was yelling at Faith about licking people is _not_ allowed, she saw Lloyd walk over. But before he could open his mouth, screams and crashes erupted, and a pack of monsters shattered the windows, ready to attack. Everyone jumped up at once, and drew their weapons. She, along with some of the other Heroes of Regeneration, ran into the thick of things. Faith stayed back to cover Ricky, and she noticed that the two Sages stayed behind to cast as well. As she was slashing away at the monsters, she made sure she saw each of the heroes of regeneration's techniques. Just in case they ever turned against them. Sheena was swift and used charmed cards, Lloyd was quick and powerful, Zelos could use spells but favored swords, Regal used brute strength, Presea's axe made her slower, but she was very strong, Colette was weaker, but deled a lot of damage at once. Emil and Marta worked together, he was strong and covered Marta when she was casting healing spells.

Kristina ducked under the arm of a bear and stabbed its back. She smirked.

_At least use good monsters in an ambush_, she thought to her self.

"Behind you Kristy!" She heard Faith's shrill voice shout to her from across the room. Out of instinct, Kristina turned and slashed with her sword. It didn't do much but scratch the metal armor that the man was wearing. She blinked. Had the ambusher's soldiers been hiding in the clump of monsters? She didn't have time to analyze it since the soldier was determined to take her down. She parried each slash of his sword easily, and when they had their swords pressed up against each other, she gave him a quick kick in the stomach to knock him back. When he was on the ground she slit his throat. Kristina smirked again, but was caught up in the arms of a brute soldier. The young girl kicked and struggled against him as he laughed. Then she heard him scream, and he dropped her and fell to the ground. She grinned and turned around, and was shocked to see it was Regal.

"Are you okay?" He asked and helped her up.

"Yeah, thanks." He nodded and ran off back into the fray, leaving Kristina staring for a few seconds. She's not use to strangers helping her. But she shook her head and ran off outside the hotel where most of the attackers were. She found herself ganged up on by a group of soldiers, and found it hard to concentrate. People were screaming and running around franticly to get away. She saw many people killed ruthlessly, and others dragged off somewhere, children included. It made her heart ache to see all the death of innocent people everywhere. Kristina couldn't take it anymore. She fended off a few more soldiers and ran over to a group of people and led them to a deserted corner in the area. She stood protectively in front of them and attacked any soldier or monster that dared to come near. After a while, Faith, Ricky, Genis, and Raine took her place casting in front of the people to protect them. While she fought, she guided any people that she could to the corner. By now it was pouring and the lightning that flashed in the sky was the only light. The thunder did nothing to drown out the screams and the sound of the battle.

Kristina finished off a soldier, and something made her look up. Through all the chaos, she saw her. The leader. She was in black battle armor, sitting on the back of a tame dragon. She flicked her sword high in the air, turning it into a whip, a _crack_ echoed through the air. The young women laughed sadistically. Behind her, a flood of monsters and soldiers came running into the battle. The thief glared and clenched her jaw.

_Just when things were calming down_, she thought. She ran towards the woman, swords ready, but a scream stopped her in her tracks. She ran over to look out at the beach, and saw a young boy being drove into the water. The waves were fierce, so tall that they covered the whole beach, taking in everything there, including the boy. It was to rough for him, or anyone to stay above water. Kristina franticly looked around to see that no one was looking, and felt the crystal that she covered on her neck. Her black wings sprouted from her back and she flew down to the ocean. The bitter wind made it hard to stay in the air and the waves made it hard to find the boy. But she did, and she placed the sputtering boy on dry land. She hovered there for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath. She heard someone scream her name, and looked up just in time to see the wave that looked black in the lighting sweep down and pull her down into the ocean.

**Scene Change**

Faith was still in that corner, protecting the people with the Sages and Ricky, and doing her best to heal everyone when she saw Kristina. She had been running to attack the leader when she stopped to run to the beach. It startled her when she saw her friend take out her wings and fly down to the ocean. But she understood when she saw the boy; he couldn't have been more than four years old. What scared her though, was when she saw the wave. It was the biggest one, and looked pitch black in the storm.

"Kristina!" She screamed. But there was no time, because the second she looked is when the wave hit her. She ran to the beach, but the continuing waves didn't let her get far. She screamed her friends name over and over again. Then she heard other screams. The monsters and soldiers ran, as well as the leader. Faith looked around to see what was going on as Kristina washed up on beach. Ricky joined her and started to get her, at the same time the young blond saw the reason for the retreat.

Ricky carried his best friend over and stared at the same place as Faith. They both groaned. It was the Papal Knights.

**Don't worry, Kristina's wings will be explained eventually. This is my first battle scene really, so tell me how I did. =)**


	4. In the Arena

**Hey guys. Sorry if the thieves sound perfect, but as the story progresses, you'll see they really aren't. And schools starting, I don't know how good I'll be at updating. Next chapter for you guys. I made sure to try to make it long.**

Chapter 4: In the Arena

Before she opened her eyes, Kristina tried to recall what had happened that put her here. She recognized the smell of rats and dry blood, the cold, hard floor, and the rising anxiety of not having her dual swords with her, not even her dagger in her boot was still there. She'd been in the Meltokio prison many times over, and each time she'd slipped out of there fingers and escaped. But most of the time it was just her, Faith, and Ricky. But she could hear the hushed whispers of Sammy, Seth, Rath, and Kyle here as well. Kristina also knew how they had gotten there, who put them there, and how bad the situation was. This time, though, she was clueless. Sighing, she opened her eyes and sat up. Although she kind of wishes she hadn't. Immediately six different voices bombarded her.

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"Why'd you jump in the water?"

"Did anyone see your wings?"

"You flew in public?"

"Forget that, you jumped in the water?"

As Kyle and Sammy started an argument on which was more important, Kristina put a finger to her mouth and shushed him. They all stared and waited for her to say something. She looked around to survey the situation. They were the only ones in the dungeon, and they were each paired up, besides Ricky, who was alone in a magic proof cell. Faith was with Kristina, Seth with Sammy, and Rath with Kyle. Then she tried to remember exactly what happened. Leading the Knights away from Rath, Sammy, Kyle, and Seth in Meltokio (which obviously didn't work), the big fight with the Knights, hiding in Altamira and befriending the Heroes of Regeneration (something Kristina was beginning to think she shouldn't of done), then the fight with those soldiers, and then she jumped in the water to save that kid and now here everyone is.

"What happened while I was knocked out? How did we get here?"

Everyone looked to Ricky and Faith with curiosity. Their eyes hardened, telling them that it wasn't good.

"Well," Faith started. "I saw you go under, so we went to go get you. Right when we got you out, the monsters and soldiers retreated. I think it's because the Papal Knights showed up, and they didn't want to get blamed."

"So of course," Ricky interjected. "As soon as they saw us, we got the blame."

"And guess what? The heroes of regeneration were working with the Papal Knights to catch us!" Faith was starting to sound sad. "They…only became friends with us so that the Knights could catch us." Ricky stared at his feet.

The others were still staring. "You guys meet the heroes of regeneration? And became friends with them?"

"Shut up Seth. I need to think." Kristina rubbed her temples and sighed. She knew she shouldn't have trusted them. She wasn't going to. She let her guard down, and that was a stupid move. Now they're all in jail again. Also, Faith had really thought they could be trusted. But now they all know that they're not to be trusted.

_I'm going away for a while  
But I'll be back  
Don't try to follow me  
'Cause I'll return as soon as possible_

They think they can do anything they want, and they can. The world loves them. They're the saviors, the heroes. They get no discrimination for their past, but as for everyone else? Well of course, they're not important, they're judged for every little thing they do. Going to run her hands through her hair, Kristina's long fingers hit the bobby pin keeping back her bangs. She grinned. They'll be out of this place in ten minutes tops.

_Trust is everything to some. With Kristina if you lose her trust, you may never get it back. I hate that it has to be like that with her. But with the things she has to go through, who can blame her?_

Lloyd walked past the Papal Knight guarding the jail along with the others. No one was saying a word. During the ambush the Papal Knights had showed up and hadn't gotten a chance to see the ambushers, instead they had blamed Ricky, Faith, and Kristina. Then they mentioned how they were helping them to catch the thieves. Ricky had looked like he wanted to murder them, and Faith looked like she wanted to cry. Then the Knights dragged them away kicking and screaming. All of them tried to reason with the Papal Knights, but they wouldn't listen. That's why they were here now, to try to talk to the runaways and get them out.

"What if they won't listen?" Colette asked, so silently that Lloyd wasn't sure if she really said it.

He put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Then we'll make them listen."

"One problem." Sheena stopped in front of the group, causing the rest of them to stop. "They're not here."

"W-what?" Genis stuttered like he does when he's shocked.

"No ones been able to escape this place before!" Zelos yelled.

"I don't think we're dealing with ordinary convicts in this situation." Professor pointed out.

Not knowing what else to do, they all walked into the four different cells the kids were supposed to be in, seeing if they were hiding. Then out of nowhere, the rusty cells doors came crashing down. Seven dark figures fell from the ceiling and landed like cats. Lloyd's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, but he didn't have to to know who they were. Kristina, Faith and Ricky were easy to pick out because he knew them. The others were harder. There was a rough looking boy with broad shoulders and a nasty scar from his temple down to his jaw, another boy with the same large build, but his silvery white hair and light blue eyes made him slightly less intimidating, a pretty petite girl that stood close to the rough one, and a tall, lean boy with copper hair that stood close to Kristina. They were obviously the others from their group.

Kristina completely ignored them in the cells. "Rath, Sammy, go see if you two can find our weapons." The rough one and the tiny one nodded and ran off.

"Why are you doing this?" Regal asked. "Why do you have to make it worse for yourselves? You need to just stick it out and serve your time like everyone us. Less resisting will lessen your punishment."

She threw her head back and laughed humorlessly. "Us? Get a lesser punishment? Yeah right."

_See, I'm trying to find my place  
But it might not be here where I feel safe_

"Since the day we were thrown in this hell hole it's always been, 'they're not important. Just get rid of them.'" The boy with the silver hair snarled.

"The system has changed since then. You need to do what Regal says and just-" Kristina cut off the Professor sharply.

_We all learn to make mistakes  
And run from them, from them  
With no direction  
_

"The system has changed? No, what they tell people about the system has changed. The way they really do things, hasn't changed one bit. It's always the same. Discrimination against each other hasn't changed. No matter what you people say. And what do you know? You were criminals for what? Three months? Not even. And then you 'save' the world and everyone loves you. But everyone else is treated the same way. Nothing ever changes. No matter what we do, those bloodthirsty people out there won't stop until they see us unmoving, unblinking, blood dripping from us."

Lloyd wasn't going to let her get away with talking to the Professor. "Stop it! We're trying to help you! Just stop whining about your apparently messed up lives and listen to what we have to say! If you just try to reason with the king instead of running away then maybe you could get off. Okay?"

_We'll run from them, from them  
With no conviction_

The copper haired boy shook his head. "Well, Lloyd the Great has spoken, so I guess we should bow down and do what he says, like everyone else, right?" Lloyd was shocked. No one ever listens to him! What are they talking about?

"No, Kyle, he's right. We should try to get everyone to listen to how we were shunned at a young age and were forced to become criminals because it's only way we could live, and then let them kill us in front of a crowd." When Kristina is angry, Lloyd noticed, her voice and face stays calm. Which really freaks him out. "Isn't that what you just said?"

_'Cause I'm just one of those ghosts  
Travelin' endlessly_

Sheena stepped in. "Stop that! Stop twisting our words around and just hear us out!"

"Why should you even care?" The pain in Faith's voice hit him like a ton of bricks. "Didn't you want us here? You were helping the Papal Knights after all."

"N-no it wasn't like that! Please we just-" Rath and Sammy running in panting interrupted Colette.

The silver haired one stared. "Did you two get our weapons or sneak off for some alone time?"

_Don't need no roads  
In fact, they follow me  
And we just go in circles_

Sammy flipped back her long copper hair. "Excuse us Seth, if we were trying to save our weapons from being melted."

"We got most of them, except Kris's and Faith's." Rath said. As he turned his head, Lloyd noticed a scar that ran down the side of his face, from his temple to his jaw line.

Faith wasn't as concerned, but Kristina was heartbroken. "M-my swords? They _melted_ my swords?"

_And now I'm told that this is life  
That pain is just a simple compromise_

Sammy dragged a large black sword (which was about her size) over to the silver haired boy, and Rath gave Ricky his sword and Kyle a large axe.

_So we can get what we want out of it_

"But here." Sammy tossed a set of regular steel tonfas to Faith. "You should be able to use these." Faith grinned in awe at her new weapons. Kristina was complaining about losing her swords.

"So," Rath started, completely unaware of the conversation they had going on. "What's the plan?"

_Would someone care to classify?  
Our broken hearts and twisted minds_

Kristina looked to the small window up right under the roof. "We break out of here and hide until nightfall, then sneak off to the hideout."

Lloyd thought it was a little sketchy, but her group seemed to go along with it. Kristina walked over to the window and he noticed the gleam off an exsphere on her hand. Looking over, he saw they all did. "You guys have exspheres?"

They all turned to blankly stare at him. Kristina stopped walking to turn and roll her eyes at him. "No, we have donuts." Her voice was full of venom and sarcasm. Faith seemed to be the only one not to catch that.

_So I can find someone to rely on_

Faith looked shocked and excited. "We have donuts?"

The leader of the thieves stared. "What? No…we don't have donuts…"

The tiny blonde started to get confused. "But you just told him-"

Ricky sounded like he was trying to break it to her gently. "She was being sarcastic, Faith."

"Oh…" The silver haired boy patted her on the shoulder. "Then can we get some donuts later?"

_And run to them, to them  
Full speed ahead_

"Uh…sure." Kristina continued to walk to the window. Using her forearm, she shattered the glass to pieces, wincing as blood started to stain the sleeve of her white sweater. Everyone was appalled.

The others ran over to her. Kyle took her arm gently. "Kristina what the hell is wrong with you?" He started to pick out pieces of glass out of her arm.

"Halt!" A deep voice boomed. They all turned to see a group of Papal Knights standing in the hallway.

Lloyd heard Kristina groan. "Oh, great."

Some of them went over and restrained the thieves, who of course tried to resist. Others released Lloyd and everyone, who were a bit embarrassed.

"Perfect. Now we can speak to both of the groups." The leader said. "The king has said that to be fair, he will give the thieves one last chance of freedom." Lloyd could have sworn regal and the Professor looked over at them smugly.

"You thieves will have a public fight with the Heroes of Regeneration." The thieves stopped resisting from shock. "You win, you're set free. You lose," there seemed to by some joy in the Knights voice. "You're executed."

**-Time Skip-**

Kristina paced in her tiny cell she shared with Faith. They were only hours away from their fight with the Heroes of Regeneration. They were doing their best to calculate the weaknesses and strengths of the Heroes. Kristina was still wondering how she could fight without her beloved swords.

_Oh, you are not useless  
We are just_

"So which ones are healers?" Sammy asked.

"Raine, Marta, Zelos, and maybe Colette." Faith answered.

"Genis is a spell caster like Ricky." Seth added.

"Marta and Emil are practically jointed at the hip." Kristina pointed out. "He'll most likely be protecting her so she can cast more spells."

_Misguided ghosts_

"Regal doesn't have a weapon does he?" Rath asked.

"No, he uses martial arts." Kyle answered.

_Travelin' endlessly_

Kristina leaned her head back and closed her eyes, calculating in her mind. So in order of strength, it was, Lloyd, Zelos, Regal, Sheena, Presea, Emil, Genis, Colette, Marta, and Raine. None of them really weak, just stronger than others.

"First things first, take out the healers." Kristina told them. "Then Genis and Emil, since he should try to get back at whoever got rid of Marta. By then it should just be Regal, Sheena, Presea, and Lloyd. Faith, you need to focus on healing by then. I take Lloyd, Rath gets Regal, Sammy gets Sheena, and Kyle you take Presea. Seth, guard Faith and Ricky."

_The ones we trusted the most  
Pushed us far away_

_If we're all still conscious by then_, Kristina thought to herself bitterly.

The metal doors of the cells creaked open and the Papal Knights dragged them all out. "It's time." Kristina could have sworn the Knight was laughing. "And here." One of them shoved a pair of black and deadly looking dual swords. "Lloyd the Great wanted you to have these to fight with." The thieves shared confused glances as they were shoved into the blinding sunlight that shone on the arena.

_And there's no one road  
We should not be the same_

On the other side, they saw the Heroes, with weapons drawn, in fighting positions. Anger and adrenaline started to course through each one of them, and they drew their weapons. (All except Rath, who just stood in fighting a position.)

"You all know the plan." Kristina muttered low under her breath. They nodded.

The announcer's voice rang throughout the arena over the crowd's cheers. "And now, let the fight begin!"

_But I'm just a ghost  
And still they echo me  
They echo me in circles_

**The big fight's in the next chapter, cause I thought this one was a little long. And the song I put in there was Misguided Ghosts, by Paramore. It's probably going to be like a theme song for the thieves, so you'll see it in here some more. Till next time, byez! **


End file.
